The history of Hotel Erzherzog Rainer

100 years of Viennese hospitality

In 2013 Hotel Erzherzog Rainer marked its 100th anniversary. The traditional hotel looks back on a turbulent century with two world wars and huge social changes, in which Hotel Erzherzog Rainer served as an accommodation for guests from Austria and all over the world.

An old document of Erzherzog Rainer

Guests from all over the world with different missions

Visitors to Vienna, who have used the traditional hotel as their residence, have probably had various reasons for their stays throughout the century. From tourists to businessmen, military to diplomats, there have been guest from all kinds of backgrounds visiting. If only the walls at Hotel Erzherzog Rainer could talk …

A clever businessman has an idea

Good marketing is not just an invention from the 2nd half of the 20th century. Already 100 years ago there were clever businessmen who knew about image, diversification of offers and reduction of financial risk. But let's start at the beginning:

Leopold Nedomansky was a picture frame purveyor to the royal household – which at the time was an incredible honour, but apparently the noble monarchists were not the most punctual payers.

Leopold Nedomansky struggled with his clients' lack of paying morale and was looking for a line of business that didn't allow long terms of payment. He might as well have been sitting in one of the traditional Viennese inns when he thought about in which industry bills were paid right away.

The answer he thought of was relatively simple. Bills in hotels and restaurants were more or less paid immediately. He probably considered bill-dodgers to be a negligible risk.

Historical means of transport

A hotel is built and gets a famous namesake

And so it was that Leopold Nedomansky, whom one would probably call lateral recruit these days, built a hotel on Wiedner Hauptstraße with no knowledge whatsoever about the hotel industry. This did not have a lot in common with his work as a picture frame producer, which one would call his core competence these days. But time would show that he did have a certain talent for the hotel business and gastronomy.

Image building in the early 20th century

Leopold Nedomansky was not only able to recognise business opportunities but also to know of the importance of the right name and image for his accommodations. He showed great vision when it came to image building. He was able to convince Archduke Rainer (Erzherzog Rainer), who lived in a town house not too far from the new hotel, to act as a namesake for the hotel and therefore give it a very noble flair. Nedomansky used the aristocrat's vanity for his benefit and was able to win him over as a namesake. The corresponding document is exhibited in the hotel's foyer.

A hotel is handed from family to family

The hotel was opened in 1913, shortly before World War I, and was owned by the Nedomansky family for 80 years.

In 1994 the Nedomansky family sold their hotel to the Schick family, a hotel dynasty with just as long a tradition and a portfolio of four hotels. One believed that only another family would be a suitable new owner for the family-run hotel and the Nedomanskys knew that Hotel Erzherzog Rainer would be in good hands with the Schicks.

The families have been friends for years and so it was no surprise that in 2013 they celebrated the hotel's 100th anniversary together with a wonderful ceremony with an “appearance” by Archduke Rainer.

Spend your Vienna stay at this traditional and history-charged hotel and book your room at Hotel Erzherzog Rainer conveniently online.